St. Paul daily globe., 1887-11-21

ever wrought such change in me,
and ere l had cOnverSed with her fifteen
minutes was madly in love with her.
L feared that the feeling would get the
better of my senses, and was nerving
myself to become stern and unbending
when she broke down, confessed the
whole thing, and acknowledged that
she was in with gang of counterfeit
ers. She stoutly protested that it was
against her will, but that she was
bound by an irOnclad oath never to
betray the gang. l believed her, but
could not persuade her to play trail
toress. Her father was at the head of the
gang, and had lost his all during the
war. She had the proud, high-strung
Southern spirit, and manifested it
throughout. She promised to say moth
ing of the arrest, and l released her.
When she left she told me her name
was Daisy, but would say nothing more.
" i hope you will succeed, SIR she
said, and it will be the happieSt mo-
ment of my life when you release me
from the bonds that bind me nOw.' Well,
| have never seen her since, and l want
you to help me find her. l shadOwed
her when she left the Office, but she
gave me the slip. l must find her, and
must capture that gang"
promised him my aid, heart and
soul, and was Immediately converted
into walking arsenal. He had in
his possession a large number of the
counterfeit bills.
Il am going to turn counterfeiter,
Jim," he said with a wan smile "The
telegraph ticker here is connected with
one in the top of tree near where L
think the rendezvous is. You are to
stay here as my assistant, and in case
you receive a message come directly to
the tree with the twelve men who will
arrive tonight. have the thing almost
ready to close" Towards evening, in
a rough, dirty suit of clothes, he left. l
sat in his Office ruminating over the
strange events of the last few hours.
The twelve government men. big, stall
wart fellows, arrived, and were distrib-
uted about the house under my direc-
tions and with brief explanation. l
sat through the twilight and watched
that instrument, but no word came. l
dropped into a restless dOZe, dreaming
of Daisy and her strange story, when
suddenly was aroused and my atten-
ton attracted to the Instruments sharp,
clear ticking.
"Wake up. Wake up" it said. A
horrible fear tugged at my heart.
Jim, wake up. Jim-Jim-Jim,"
ratified the instrument. l seized the
key and replied, "All right"
''Jim," it said, -and-I-need
you. me-at-Once."
With haSty answer. / aroused the
men, and away we went, with guns
handy and mutfied from head to foot.
Through brush and swamp we stumbled
and finally reached the tree, Standing
there
SILENTLY AS GHOSTS,
g | was aroused by touch on the arm.
Turning quickly, | peered into Willis
deathly pale face.
Gomez he said simply, and we
picked our way to an old deserted mill.
The men were reused to great pitch of
excitement by sudden, queer flashes of
light, and rattling, unearthly sound
occasionally heard. Under Will'S direc-
ton the men crept close to the mill and
peered through the cracks. Nothing
met their eyes but strange, mumbIing
sound caught their ears. Suddenly
piercing scream was heard and a door
opened from nowhere. A woman came
tearing out at full speed and the door
closed as quickly. The woman ran
straight into Wills arms, and he wiped
the blood from her brow, at the same
time murmuring, ''GOd bless you, my
darling" and knew it was his sweet
heart. She was in faintfng condition,
but. when reused seemed glad to see
Will, and told him that she had been
turned away because she had expressed
her determination to leave the life she
was leading. One of the leaders had
struck her crushing blow, and her
father, while attempting to defend her,
was killed. The time for action had
come. She was thirSting for revenge,
and it was planned that she should beg
admittance, promising to stay by the
gang. She led the way and our crowd
followed. With drawn revOlverS we
grouped around the door. She knocked
and piteously begged them to let her in,
and as quickly was she whisked out of
sight behind huge tree. The door was
opened and we rushed in. A few scat
tering shots were fired and the capture
was complete. Not man escaped, and
large and IN ny packages of counterfeit
bills were captured. The presses, dies,
etc, were carted away the next day and
sent to Washington. Any one who has
any curiosity can find in the old rec
ords story of kid Evans, Joe Ben
son and the Mississippi Gang"
And Daisy? Well, you can answer as
to what became of her. l? Well, have
ever since that time been detective and
live at Willis house, with a sweet little
Southern wife, whose proud little rebel
spirit occasionally asserts itself.
FROM AN OLD DETECTIVE.